Wednesday WITL wrapup

On Wednesday I took 82 photos. That amazes me. I had a busy and unexpectedly long day at work followed by on call work. I assumed that I would have very few photos. I did better than I thought.
The highlights:
Christopher going in the door at daycare:

Diet Coke--my fuel to get through an extended work day full of grant reports:


Story and cuddle time before bed:

Photo sample of WITL Day 2

Yesterday(Tuesday) was day two of my WITL. I took 51 photos--less than half of what I did on day one. I had been concerned about that fact but then just left it go. What's the point of doing this if I'm going to stress?

Here are a few samples of my photos:
This is my son and his puppy on the way to daycare.

I spent some time gardening last evening. These are my gardening flip flops.

This is the funky way my son was sitting watching tv and drinking some chocolate milk right before bedtime.

I have put together the digital piece of my first Monday page. I will print this, mount it on a 12x12 cardstock and add any additional embellishments (including the word create which sums up the overall tone of the day.

Design for WITL is planned.

I've made some decisions. I'm doing this project hybrid. I'm going to use this template as a title page.

My first page of each day will use this template:

I'll stick with the plan to use the baseball card sheet protectors in the middle. My last page will be a collage--probably similar to what Ali has designed for the project.

Day two of WITL

The official photo count from yesterday is 119. I threw out a good many of the photos and only kept what I thought I might want. Out of those, I'm sure I'll only use a few. At least I've got options.

I've probably taken about the same amount today that I did by this time yesterday--maybe a few fewer. I'll have to see how the numbers compare at the end of the day. I know I took the majority of my photos yesterday evening. I imagine the same will happen today.

My 5 year old is really into the photo end of things. Last evening he kept grabbing my camera and snapping shots. He got out his camera today--we'll have to see what he does with it. He takes some pretty good photos actually. I got a kick out of him this morning. He was telling me how he taught his friend at daycare to use his camera when he had it there for show and tell. He then made the comment that his friend is now a photographer just like him.

I've been thinking about my design plan for the finished product. I found one of Cathy Zielske's templates that I think I might base my title page on. I like the idea of using the baseball card protector pages in the middle of each day's section. I haven't decided what I want to do for each day as the start page. My last day will be a collage. I'm still looking around for inspiration--and of course some of my layout could be determined by what stuff/photos/words I have.

Favorites of today

It's been a fun first day of WITL. I was a bit anxious and concerned about what I was going to document. I didn't need to be---I took a ton of photos. How many exactly? I'm not sure. I know there are more than 100. I've weeded them out and chose my two favorites (I think).

I like this one because it feels...I don't know, artistic I guess.


This one I like because it shows Christopher's pure joy at riding his bike. I just put the training wheels on today. We've been trying to teach him to balance, but to no avail. I just gave in and put on the trainers.

I think my favorite cuteness was tonight. We were painting. He heard the sounds of the crickets and cicadas. He asked me what was making the sound. After a bit he looked at me and said "No mommy. I think it's a kinkajou. They are nocturnal you know." Where does this child get these things? Must be Diego.

A week in my life....

My Week in the Life project started today. I'm kind of excited and just trying to have fun with it. I may have talked a friend of mine into playing along.
I was stressing a little bit about how I was going to pull this off. Would it be interesting? Could I plan stuff and things to photograph?---and about a million other questions. I've just adopted the attitude of "go with it". It's for me right? So who cares how it turns out as long as it's fun!
This morning was super busy at work. At the moment it is just a little slow--but only because an appointment cancelled at the last minute. I have one coming in very shortly and then must get moving on a grant report---the last one for now--Yay!

Scrap Happy Month

This month has been pretty scrappy for me. I've managed to get a decent amount of pages produced (for me anyway). Take a look:

The new self portrait

and here it is....


I admit I did a little color correction and added a subtle vignette in Photoshop. Beyond that, it really is me, as I am on any ordinary day.

Explore prompt one.

Our very first task was to do a self portrait. I seem to be finding myself do that a lot in the last few months. At first it was a daunting task. Now, it really doesn't bother me. I'm not necessarily pleased with each and every self portrait I take--usually quite the opposite. I've learned to live with it. I am who I am. These self portraits are what others see. I would imagine that I'm far more critical than anyone else is. I tend to avoid being in photos. I've learned though that I just need to let go and let them be taken. I don't tend to show up in the majority of my scrapping---unless it's specifically about me. You'll see my words, hear my thoughts, and gain insight into my feelings, but you'll rarely see me.

My creativity runs in spurts. Lately it's been pretty much on. There are other times when finishing a project and being happy with the results is no easy task. One thing is definite: doing something creative is a must for me. Without a creative outlet, I flounder and flop about.

Looking out my window is an experience that is continually in flux. I see potential for stuff everywhere. Sometimes inspiration eludes me though. My best bet when that happens is to just let it ride. Sooner or later the possibilities start rolling in and the inspiration is found.

New class

I've got a lot of irons in the fire so to speak. I just started a new online class today. I know, not another one....LOL. This one is actually not a Jessica Sprague class--believe it or not. I stumbled across it yesterday on Ali Edwards' Blog. This class is titled "Explore" by shimelle.com. It seemed to fit so nicely with my plans to follow along with Ali's Week in Life that is scheduled for next week. The price was right and I decided to go for it. The class actually started on Monday, the 18th so I have a bit of catch up to do. I looked over the materials that were provided in these first 3 days and managed to complete the self portrait assignment (gotta love the iphone) all while I ate my lunch.

Stay tuned for more to come as I struggle to survive the heat wave this week.

Swirling thoughts

My brain is too full of many different thoughts.

Scrapping:
I have been investigating the Project Life concept by Becky Higgins. I've been intrigued--for a long time really. I'm going to give this style a shot and play along with Ali Edwards' Week in Life coming up the week of July 25. This may just be the way to blend everything together: digital, hybrid, traditional scrapping and of course actually using all of that daily ephemera that I collect. This project will be a big commitment and will (I hope) serve as a jump start to get me actually using my blog.

Ridiculous people:
This week Christopher is taking swimming lessons for the very first time. Daddy takes him everyday from 10-11 at the local pool. Of course, the scrapper in me requested that Daddy take his camera one day this week and snap a few photos for me. He did this today. He chose to use his long lens so that he could stand up on the hill and take photos without in anyway distracting or getting in the way of either instructors or students. Seems like an easy thing right? Wrong! A father goes to the pool administrator and complains that "some creep" is photographing his daughters. The pool administrator approaches DH with the concern. I must say that DH handled this very well (much better than I would have). He explained to the administrator that
1.) He was taking pictures of his own son---not someone else's child/ren.
2.) This is a public venue with no restrictions regarding attendance, access, etc. Based on law, there is no expectation of privacy or right to it.
3.) If this parent had concerns about what DH was doing why didn't he approach him and ask him directly.
The administrator went and spoke to the complaining father and of course, DH spent the rest of the swimming lesson getting filthy looks.

Here's my take: The guy is an absolute control freak looking to create drama. He has no sense of community. I'm wondering if this was his first day there or something. DH has been there every single lesson interacting with the other parents--and being sure to connect with the parents of the new friends that our son is making--it was clear that he legitimately belonged there. He didn't just show up and start taking pictures. He didn't take any photos of other children--just our son. If this guy is sooo concerned about his daughters' privacy then why isn't he providing them with privately instructed classes at a privately run, members only facility? It is a community based swimming pool and completely open to the public. I wonder what this guy would've done if DH was working in his capacity as a member of the press and taking photographs for a press release and/or story to highlight what the pool has to offer in attempts to increase its revenue to cover operational costs?

I'm steamed! Anyway.....now that I've vented that one I feel better. I still have swirling thoughts but have managed to focus them a bit having dumped that rant.